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Cheers, Wurzel. It was such a fresh and amenable sort of butterfly that I couldn't resist the close up. Taken from all of an inch or two away... And it was a Holly Blue of course.

1st August continued: And so, on to Denbies again. It wasn't so windy this time, though every bit as warm and sunny and basking butterflies were at a premium. First to be seen today were a couple of Small Coppers, one of which was characteristically dusky as they seem to be in this hot year.Walking slowly across the slopes, I did find some Silver-spotted Skippers this time - they were spread out in small numbers all over the hillside, whereas the Blues were mainly across the eastern half.I had a bit more success with the Adonis today, though they were not particularly numerous with perhaps a dozen seen altogether. However, there may have been quite a few more nectaring or roosting with their wings shut, which makes them blend into the background of all the other species of Blue.There were still some decent Chalkhills, though the males are fading really fast now with ore days of heat and sunshine than usual.I also found a female with wings reasonably open, not a common sight this year by any means.There were still goods numbers of Common Blues in pockets - not spread out generally as with the other species......and there were plenty of Brown Argus too. Though not in the scale I have observed in the past, I also discovered a little group of butterflies settled on something unpleasant.Finally - a view westwards, and also a full zoom cropped shot of Leith Hill Tower over on the greensand ridge - it's amazing what these clever cameras can do. Dave

Some really nice Adonis there Dave, did you use your whispering ways on them to get them to open up? The sheen from the back of the wing on the final Adonis is brilliant

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Nice close-ups of Silver-spotted skips and Adonis, Dave. I am still itching to see my first 2nd brood Adonis this year. No luck as yet.

Great reports and shots Dave, a lovely selection of Blues. I've noted some dusky Coppers as well.

Hi Dave, I am trying to catch up again, you don't half get about

Great reports and photos in your recent reports

Small Blue doesn't usually have a second brood in Warwickshire...but I suppose anything could happen this year, I have even heard of a couple of reports of second brood Orange-tips in the county.

Wurzel wrote:That's a brilliant selection of Blues Dave, and I had to do a double take - a brown female Common since when have female Common Blues been Brown ...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Pretty regularly in the midlands. During my travels I have noted that Common Blue females are often more brown further north with the more blue ones seen more often down south. Around my patch I am seeing both brown and blue ones with all variation in between.

Cheers,

Neil

Whispering is probably the wrong word for how I was addressing the little chaps, Wurzel...

Thanks, Ernie - the Adonis seem to be appearing all over the place now, so you should catch up with them any time soon.

Cheers, Andrew - it's probably the peak time for variety of Blues in a single spot at the moment.

Hi, Neil - thanks for that. Having seen second brood Small Blues at Southam on 1st August back in 2015, I wondered if this was a regular occurence - hence the two stops. It seems that may have been a one-off! However, the display of Common Blues at Bishops Itchington made it very worthwhile. There were all variations of blueness there certainly!

Thursday 2nd August seemed a good point to start looking for Brown Hairstreaks down at Bookham. Hot and sunny and mid afternoon - probably not the best conditions to be honest, but the morning had been otherwise occupied: I found the very round total of absolutely none at all. However, the various quite extensive patches of fleabane were covered in butterflies - Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Speckled Woods, Common Blues and Brown Argus were there in numbers, plus a sprinkling of perching Small Coppers and Small Heath.A few ragged-looking SWF wandered along the paths, looking for any thistles that hadn't gone over......and I also came across a new female Brimstone.I didn't even see a Purple Hairstreak, let alone a Brown one. No interesting moths today, but this bright red dragonfly pestered me along one bit of path until I agreed to take its picture... Dave

That sounds like a familiar day, very similar to mine there yesterday in fact, although I did get a few Purple Hairstreaks flybys, unbelievable they're still going! That Fleabane is a hive of activity at the moment though isn't it, just a shame our little Hairstreak friends aren't in the mood to visit yet

Friday 3rd August. Another hot and sunny day and another quest for Brown Hairstreak. The last minute decision was to try Noar Hill as I noted just before I left that they'd been seen there by Pauline on 2nd. Noar Hill didn't look as dry as some places I've been to recently - though that's only relative! The one noticeable point was the vast amount of hemp agrimony flowering at present - a favourite source of nectar for those elusive hairstreaks. I felt more hopeful...

However, the first butterfly to catch my eye, hopping rapidly between scabious flowers then sailing off on a wide circle before coming back to do it over again, was a Clouded Yellow. During a longer-than-average pause on one flowerhead, I managed to get close enough for a few quick shots before it set off on a much more extended flight and disappeared. It was male, and somewhat battered - a relatively recent arrival, perhaps escaping 45 degrees and more in Iberia.Immediately after this surprise sighting (which was also species no. 52 of the year for me), I came across another likely immigrant - a very worn Painted Lady.This is where the excitement stopped, as despite leisurely searching of the agrimony and stands of blackthorn, once again no Brown Hairstreaks were to be found.

I did see several worn SWF, mostly females, a couple of Red Admirals and large numbers of Common Blues and Brown Argus.There were also plenty of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, a few Speckled Woods in the shade, plus a very elderly Large Skipper. Finally, a male Brimstone appeared. Not quite the day I was anticipating, but the adage was proved accurate once again: always expect the unexpected.

Dave

Species 52 Retirement has really paid off Dave Great shot of the Cloudy which looks in fine fettle As this was the 3rd August I reckon that you might have gotten onto a Brostreak by now but if not then you could always give Shipton Bellinger a try, three visits so far this year and Brostreaks down low on all three occasions...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Worth a go, Wurzel - I drew a blank at Bookham again today (8th) from the photo angle, though there were a few in the top of an ash that seems to be a master tree.

Saturday 4th August. Far too hot and sunny to be out - both for me and for the butterflies. However, I made a morning tour of my local patch and was staggered by the numbers of Holly Blues there were, almost all of them in the shade, and a surprising proportion nectaring on one particular patch of fleabane. Ten to a dozen were here, about a third of the overall total seen today of nearly 30.I also counted 18 Common Blues, but only six Brown Argus.There was also a single Small Copper - I rarely see more than one at a time, but there must be more somewhere...I have also noticed that both the Common Blues and Brown Argus are increasingly to be found away from their usual haunts, and are turning up along sunny paths almost anywhere - a feature of the hot weather no doubt. However, the high point (though very brief) was to watch a Clouded Yellow fly powerfully through at around head height, as if on a mission - it didn't even pause, let alone stop. This made the 25th species seen on my local patch this year. On my way home, I spotted two Commas: the first was a summer one, right down in the undergrowth seeking to lay on nettle leaves that still had some life and moisture in them. The other was a new winter Comma, perched in semi-shade.Some of the increasing numbers of Speckled Woods (logically) seemed to be new ones. Dave

Nice to hear reports of good numbers of Holly Blues, Dave. Your countryside looks to be a bit greener too. I guess that wet weekend at the end of July refreshed things somewhat?

Not really greener, David - you should see the grass around here! However, the last couple of days of heavy rain should make a difference. Yes, the Hollies are doing well, though finding them hiding in the shade in groups together on flowers seems all wrong to me.

Sunday 5th August. Hot and sunny again, and a late afternoon excursion out to Aston Rowant was what could be fitted in today. At first, the hillside seemed to be very quiet, but as I moved slowly along the top of the slope, I became aware of lots of darting orange-brown shapes which on closer examination (on the rare occasions this was possible) turned out to be Silver-spotted Skippers. Gently zig-zagging down the hillside, I tried to count them, but in the end gave up around the 40 mark. There were many more. Here are some of those seen today:One individual had a lucky escape, flying off before the predator below could get anywhere near...I found a female on the ground being accosted by a male. She frantically repelled his advances and in the same movement laid an egg and flew off. When I looked for the egg, I found no fewer than seven laid within a few centimetres of each other. Considering the amount of the foodplant here, and the number of butterflies flying, there must be thousands of eggs across the whole of this hillside. When scrutinising the ground closely in this way, I realised just how many female blues and worn Brown Argus there were as well - female Chalkhills especially blend incredibly well with dry chalk slopes. However, at the foot of the hill, near the ditch that runs along the bottom, extra moisture in the soil caused a large and lush patch of marjoram to flourish, and this was covered in butterflies: Blues, Meadow Browns, a Small Copper and a few Silver-spots as well. It's difficult to do this justice in a photo, but here goes.I also managed a photo of the Copper on its own. I was also on the look out for Adonis Blues, having seen them out at Denbies recently. I found two males, but as on that occasion getting them to open up in the sunshine was a real challenge. All the butterflies were angling themselves at 90 degrees to the sun, making shots very tricky even if I managed to approach them quite closely. Dave

Fantastic Silver-spots Dave Your report mirrors what I saw the following day at Broughton Down; the hills were crawling with SSS I suppose with the 2nd brood Adonis that's almost it for the season Good luck at Shipton tomorrow - we only got one male today at the Hedge but the weather was far from conducive during the golden hours

Have a goodun

Wurzel

More great trips out it would seem !. What a Summer to be retired ! .
Apparently we're both on a Brown Hairstreak hunt today, best of luck.
From what I have seen they seem to be a bit elusive this year.

Trevor.

Thanks, Wurzel - the heat hasn't affected the SSS one bit - possibly even the opposite, no doubt down to the fact that the foodplant is drought resistant. There was plenty around over the hillside. I didn't get up early enough for Shipton today, but gave Bookham another go and was successful there instead before the cloud moved in. However, by the look of your diary you were even more successful down at Steyning, Trevor.

Monday 6th August was just too hot to go out, and truth be told so was Tuesday 7th. However, I did have a bit of a walk around my local patch on Tuesday for an hour or so in the morning. The situation was broadly similar to a few days back, with good numbers of both Holly(25) and Common(19) Blues, but only one solitary Brown Argus made an appearance.Most of the other butterflies seen were various Whites, with Small Whites the most frequent. A Red Admiral was found once again deep in the undergrowth where there are fresh nettle leaves - hopefully the offspring will be around in October as they usually are.Inquisitive as ever, this one did emerge and settle on my leg. Some of the Common Blues seemed quite fresh......the Holly Blues less so.As before, many of them were nectaring in the shade, and here is the favoured fleabane patch if referred to a few posts back.I think there are eight visible in the second photo.

Dave

Love the shots of the Hollies on the Fleabane Dave, there was lots of Fleabane at Southport but I didn't see many Butterflies on them only CB's. Goldie

I didn't realise how much I had missed from your diary, Dave. I had to scroll back to the start of the current page! I am a sucker for backlit photos and you got a whole bundle of them, Brimstone, Holly Blue, Clouded Yellow, etc. I especially liked the SSS pics including the one of the eggs!

You need to start a "Trousered" collection Dave You're rolling in Holly Blues I don't think I've seen that many one on small patch

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thanks, everyone. I'll have a search back and see how many there are in the trousered section, Wurzel!

At last, the weather was on the change. The night of 7th August was full of thunder and lightning, and it actually rained. However on Wednesday 8th August it was sunny again, and though cooler, it was still 25+ degrees. I decided to try Bookham once again for those elusive Brown Hairstreaks, and though this time I did see some activity in their favourite ash tree, nothing came down to my level or even close. Overall, there seemed to be fewer butterflies than on my last visit under a week ago, with the activity on the fleabane beds much reduced. This was particularly true of the Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, though there were still good numbers of both Common Blues and Brown Argus. Whilst searching for the Hairstreaks along the hedge bordering Banks Common, the usual series of Small Coppers appeared, one after the other, and there were many scraps at the territorial boundary points as I disturbed them walking through. A distinct path has been worn here (probably by Bugboy and myself, truth be told ), and the Coppers do seem to use it as a thoroughfare as well - maybe it provides a degree of shelter. Also of note, and replacing the Gatekeepers along the (proper) paths here, were a series of new Speckled Woods of the duskier shade typical of the late summer generation.Finally, almost within sight of the car, was a Holly Blue. Dave

More great stuff Dave That Brown Argus looks like it's in 'mint condish' Lovely to see the Small Coppers as well

Have a goodun

Wurzel